


You Got Me in a Holidaze

by EmpressKT



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Missed Connections
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28355436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressKT/pseuds/EmpressKT
Summary: Rowan starts seeing a mysterious girl around town during the holidays. Problem is, he can't seem to keep an eye on her long enough to figure out who she is.
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	You Got Me in a Holidaze

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to you all! This was just a little something that I thought of and put together. Thank you so much for reading! <3

Rowan Whitethorn hated Christmas.

Well…that wasn’t entirely true. He didn’t _hate_ it, per se. Sure, he wasn’t overly fond of the forced merriment that seemed to follow him wherever he went. He also didn’t like that everything was covered in glitter, and it never seemed to wash off. Every place he walked into smelled so overwhelmingly of vanilla and cinnamon, it made his head spin. And if he had to listen to “Jingle Bell Rock” one more time, he might actually lose it. That didn’t mean he _hated_ Christmas. He was simply counting down the days until Christmas was over, and he could once again step outside his apartment without being assaulted by holiday cheer.

It was relentless, pervasive. Decorations downtown had gone up as soon as Halloween ended, and it seemed the residents of Orynth followed suit right after. Windows were frosted like winter wonderlands, wreaths were hung in doorways, and within a few weeks, everything had transformed into a twinkling oasis of lights and evergreen. The city had even erected a giant Christmas tree in the main square, drawing in thousands of tourists from all over, which only served to increase Rowan’s disdain for the holiday.

It was near that very same tree that Rowan stood, waiting for Aedion to arrive. His friend had asked him for help with Christmas shopping for his girlfriend, but Rowan suspected it had more to do with Aedion trying to get him in the Christmas spirit. It wasn’t a secret at the law firm that he preferred solitude over revelry during the holiday, but Aedion had taken personal offense to Rowan’s apparent Scrooge-ness. Everything the junior associate had done since his discovery had been some underhanded attempt at getting Rowan to see the “magic” of Christmas.

For instance, Aedion could have asked him to meet anywhere else but chose this gods forsaken tree. It was four days before Christmas, and Rowan was surrounded by people ogling the gigantic fir behind him. It didn’t matter where he stood; he was constantly in the way of someone else or photobombing someone’s picture. Maybe Aedion figured he might get caught up in the splendor of the tree and be overcome with holiday cheer, but right now, he was just overcome with an unrelenting need to throttle his friend.

Rowan pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and frowned when he saw that Aedion was already fifteen minutes late. The throttling would have to wait.

Not wanting to hang around the tree any longer, Rowan made his way towards the ice skating rink the town set up in the middle of the square. He cupped his hands around his mouth, puffing warm air into them to try and bring some feeling back to his fingertips. One thing he absolutely did not like about his move to Orynth was how cold it was all the damn time. He remembered the first time he complained to Aedion about the temperature. His friend simply laughed and said that it only got worse.

Rowan supposed it wasn’t so bad right then. Soft snow flurries drifted lazily from the sky, covering the world in a smattering of white. He supposed it looked quite idyllic, like a Christmas card, complete with playing children and cheerful holiday goers. The skating rink was full of people going in circles around each other, laughing gleefully as their friends wobbled on rented skates. Rowan leaned against the rink wall, breathing in the cold air, appreciating the clean, crisp pine and snow scent of the outside. It was a far cry better than the artificial fragrances he would no doubt be subject to later that afternoon if Aedion ever decided to show up.

A flash of red caught his attention, but it was quickly swallowed up by the crowd skating in front of him. Looking around, he tried to see if he could locate the source, but after a quick search, he went back to watching people make their way around the rink. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and when he pulled it out, he noticed that Aedion finally sent him a message in response to his lateness.

_Sorry, man! I got tied up. Be there in a few minutes._

Rowan huffed, annoyed that he still had to wait. He didn’t even want to be there. He could be at home, warm and comfortable right now. Instead, he was standing alone, in the snow, waiting for Aedion, who was twenty minutes late to the shopping trip that he set up in the first place.

The crowd at the skating rink thinned significantly in the spot just in front of him, a large opening allowing him to see to the center of the rink. Usually, there was a crowd of more seasoned skaters or even a class or two going on while a free skate occurred on the outer edges of the arena. But there appeared to be only one skater in the center, doing laps around everyone else, her bright red scarf trailing behind her like a flame.

Rowan’s breath caught in his throat as he took in the skater before him. She didn’t seem to have a care in the world as she whirled around on her skates. He watched as she whizzed by him, rotating slightly on her feet until she was moving backward. The crowd seemed to move away from the center to give her space to work, and some even stopped to watch what was unfolding on the ice. She launched herself into a spin; her long leg lifted behind her as she leaned back with her arms in a delicate arc over her head. Her golden hair whipped around her face as she spun swiftly, that crimson scarf fluttering in the manufactured breeze.

The whole world seemed to narrow in on this girl as she twirled around on the ice. Even from where he was standing, he could see the utter joy on her face, as if there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be than right there in that moment. That joy radiated out into the crowd, and he could see others taking her in, smiling widely at her display in the center of the ice. Rowan had never seen anything like it, and he could hardly tear his eyes away from her.

When she finally stopped, her face split into a wide grin. Rowan heard a few claps from the crowd, and skating mostly resumed around him. But she stayed in the center, her hands on her hips with that same giddy grin on her face, as if she could hardly believe she managed to pull off the spin she accomplished. And then she laughed - a light, lyrical thing that Rowan swore he heard over the din of the crowd.

She was absolutely breathtaking.

Rowan took a step towards the entrance of the rink. To do what he didn’t know. But he was inexplicably drawn to the golden-haired skater, and he needed to do _something._

“Hey, Rowan! There you are!”

Rowan scowled as he turned to see Aedion jogging up the sidewalk to meet him. It took him a beat for his brain to catch up to what was happening in front of him. Shaken from the trance the skater had put him under, he glanced down at his phone revealed that they were now thirty minutes behind schedule.

“You’re late,” Rowan grumbled, pocketing his phone.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Aedion waved him off nonchalantly. “My cousin surprised us this morning. We weren’t expecting her until later this week, but she apparently finished her symphony tour early.”

Rowan cocked an eyebrow. “Cousin?”

“Yeah, man. My cousin Aelin?” Aedion cast a perplexed look in his direction. “I know I’ve mentioned her. The musician?”

Rowan racked his brain for any mention of an Aelin in the short time he had known Aedion. To be fair, he had only been in Orynth a few months and spent even less time with Aedion, even though they had been fast friends. He met Aedion’s girlfriend, Lysandra, a few weeks ago, but he couldn’t remember hearing anything about a cousin named Aelin.

The confusion he felt must have been apparent because Aedion just shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the outdoor mall a few blocks down the street. “Eh, don’t worry about it. You’ll meet her at the party on Thursday, anyway. She loves to talk about herself, so I’m sure you’ll learn all about her then.”

Rowan just nodded and started following his friend down the street. But before he got too far, he turned to look back and see if he could catch another glimpse of the mysterious skater that intrigued him so much just a few minutes ago. His eyes scanned over the crowd, but he couldn’t see that bright red scarf anywhere. He looked over the area surrounding the rink and couldn’t find her there either. It was like she had vanished, drifting away like the snow flurries in the wind.

Rowan frowned, turning back to catch up with his friend, wondering if she was ever real in the first place.

—

The flurries of the day morphed into a storm overnight, dumping several inches of powder on the ground. Orynth transformed into a world of icy white, much to Rowan’s chagrin. On a day like this, Rowan preferred to stay inside, curled up with a good book and a cup of coffee, but Lysandra had requested his help with some errands.

Which is why instead of being comfortable on his couch, he was standing in the park, his arms full of groceries. And Aedion was late once again.

He learned the day before that the Christmas party Aedion and Lysandra put on every year was huge. They invited everyone they knew – friends, family, even the entire law firm - and planned a grand display of food and drink, including a massive charcuterie board, featuring a wide array of cheeses and smoked meats from the fancy store downtown. It just needed to be picked up.

But Aedion hadn’t yet left the office, finishing up some last-minute work before the holiday, and Lysandra was out with Aedion’s mysterious cousin running other errands for the party. And Rowan, free as a bird, was just a short walk away from the shop, and could he please, just pop over there real quick to pick up their order?

Rowan could have said no. He probably should have said no. Then he wouldn’t be standing around in the freezing cold with about 100 pounds of food hanging from his hands, waiting for his friend to arrive and pick up his stuff. His fingers were starting to cramp, and Aedion texted him twenty minutes ago, saying he would be there in ten to take it from him. He learned that he should never take his friend at face value, especially when it came to time management.

Rowan sighed. He didn’t know how much longer Aedion would be, and he really needed a break from holding the bags. He was thankful that the park was relatively empty that day. He figured that most people were out shopping, but it saved him from the embarrassment of standing around with enough food to feed a small army.

Glancing around, he eyed a bench just up the path from where he was standing. Hoisting all of the bags in his arms, he trekked down the walkway, the snow crunching softly beneath his boots. The bench was mostly clear of the snow, for which Rowan was grateful, and he immediately set the bags down on the seat. He flexed his fingers several times, trying to clear out the pins and needles feeling from cutting off circulation for too long.

Rowan looked around the park and smiled. When he first moved to Orynth, he needed a place to walk and clear his head, and he found this park to be the perfect place. With its massive pines and hidden walkways, it was secluded enough from the bustle of the city that it was like he was in a forest. And now, with the whole place covered in white, he felt like he was caught in someone’s winter dream.

A bright laugh broke through the stillness and shook Rowan from his reverie. He looked around for the source but saw no one there. He listened for a moment but could only hear the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. He shrugged it off, checking his phone to see if Aedion had sent another update, when the laugh sounded again, this time followed by a loud bark from a dog.

Curious to see who he was sharing the park with, Rowan turned in the direction he thought the sound came from just in time to see a large golden retriever sprint across the path covered in snow. He watched as the dog darted across the small field just a ways from him and dived headfirst into a powdery snowbank. Concerned that the dog might get stuck, Rowan made a step towards the field when the pup’s furry head popped out of the mound with a red ball in its mouth.

The dog flopped happily in the snow and then sprinted back across the field. Rowan’s gaze trailed after the golden pooch, smiling slightly at the sight of the small blizzard flying off its back. When it reached the path, it stopped, sitting on at the edge of the field, its tail thumping furiously against the frozen ground. Rowan’s eyes widened when the dog’s owner appeared from behind a tree in the path to lovingly scratch behind its ears.

It was _her_.

She was standing in the path right in front of him, wrapped up in a deep blue coat and a cream-colored scarf. A matching hat covered her ears, allowing her long, blonde hair to cascade down her back in a gentle curl. She squatted down in front of the dog, rubbing both her hands over its head and receiving slobbery kisses in return. From where he stood, he could see the rosiness in her cheeks, likely flushed from the cold, and a small smile on her full lips as she gently praised her friend for fetching the ball.

Rowan couldn’t believe that she was here. He would never admit it to anyone, but he spent most of his time the day before searching for the mystery skater after he and Aedion left the rink. Rowan half-believed he dreamed her into existence while tired and zoning out while waiting for his friend to arrive. He knew that he had to see her again if only to prove to himself that she wasn’t a boredom-induced fantasy. But she had disappeared without a trace.

And now, she was _here_ , not twenty feet in front of him.

Utterly transfixed by the charming scene on the path, he took a step towards her as if he were caught in a daze. She hadn’t noticed his presence, too wrapped up in her dog to acknowledge the world around her, but he moved with enough purpose so that he would hopefully not startle her with his sudden appearance.

But he had only made it a few steps when a voice sounded out behind him.

“Dude, were you just going to leave the groceries here? Anyone could have taken them.”

Rowan turned to glower at his friend, who, for the second day in a row, had terribly impeccable timing.

“Well,” Rowan started. “If _someone_ could be bothered to show up on time for once, then it wouldn’t be a concern.”

Aedion sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry about that man, Lorcan’s got me on this nightmare of a case, and it’s been running me ragged. Thanks again, though, for picking up the stuff. Lys and I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rowan said gruffly, waving off his friend’s gratitude. He was still annoyed at Aedion’s untimely interruption.

Aedion only shrugged and grabbed the bags off the bench, making his way towards the park entrance. With Aedion’s attention elsewhere, Rowan quickly turned back to the field, hoping to catch his mystery girl before he left. But the field was empty – nothing but open space covered in pristine snow and no sign of a beautiful girl or her dog. Rowan strained to listen to the sounds of the park, hoping to hear her musical laughter or that telltale bark but was met with nothing but the wind whipping around his head.

And for the second time in so many days, Rowan wondered if he hadn’t simply dreamed her into existence.

—

It was two days before Christmas, and Rowan was beginning to hate his friend.

Aedion called him not two hours earlier to remind him that in addition to all of the fun and festivities at the party, family and close friends were invited to stay later for a bit of indulgence, which included a Yankee Swap. And since Aedion refused to let Rowan stay home alone on Christmas, his presence was not only required but demanded.

“Surely you’ve done one of these before,” Aedion had asked. And Rowan only reminded him of his preferred holiday activities of staying away from people and being comfortable in his own home. Aedion just scoffed and asked to bring a small gift for the exchange and reminded him, once again, that all of this was supposed to be _fun._

Well, it certainly didn’t seem like fun braving the massive crowds to find something suitable for the party. Rowan had opted to come to the Market Square, hoping that since it was primarily filled with boutiques and small local stores, that perhaps it wouldn’t be as busy as the mall. But Rowan immediately understood his grave error the second he walked down the main drag of the plaza.

The whole place seemed like a Dickensian Christmas story come to life. The buildings were all red brick and quaint, with warm lights inviting people inside. There was a legitimate cobblestone road, where horse-drawn carriages were carrying residents up and down the streets. And wrought iron streetlamps flickered with the very real fire burning inside. On top of it all, the whole plaza was blanketed in a layer of crisp, white snow. Many of the citizens were visiting, not only to do some shopping but to take in the sights of what appeared to be a small village right in the heart of Orynth.

Rowan had to admit – it was a pretty spectacular sight. He didn’t think they had anything like this anywhere else in the country. But there were so many people, all pushing past each other and shoving their way into storefronts and down the street. Being around them made his skin crawl, and he vowed to get in and get out quickly, no matter how much he wanted to stay and peruse to his leisure. Maybe another day when it wasn’t so crowded.

He looked around the square at all the different stores, unsure of where to start, when he spotted something of interest in front of the confectionery.

A familiar girl with long golden hair, her impish nose pressed up against the glass.

Rowan didn’t think before he practically ran to the store, weaving through the crowds of people in the way. He couldn’t believe that after two failed attempts, he had another chance to meet her. He spent a lot of the day before cursing his luck for having missed both his opportunities due to Aedion’s unfortunate timing, but nothing was standing in his way now.

Nothing except the small woman he, unfortunately, barreled into on his way to his mystery girl.

The woman let out a surprised “Oh!” and Rowan grunted as an elbow caught him in the stomach. Bags went flying around him as he reached out an arm to steady the poor soul he almost crushed in his attempt to get to the candy store. Looking down, he was met with a pair of familiar emerald green eyes.

Well, he could still blame Aedion, he supposed.

“Lysandra! Oh my god, I am so sorry. I didn’t even see you there.” Rowan felt his cheeks heat as he bent down to start scooping up the bags that Lysandra dropped in their collision. Lysandra was quiet as she took in steadying breaths, and Rowan feared that he might have scarred his friend’s girlfriend with his uncoordinated attempt at finally meeting the girl of his dreams.

But Lysandra just tipped her head back and laughed. Rowan just stared at her for a moment before a soft chuckle burst from his lips.

“It’s fine, Rowan. Really. There’s a million people here right now, so it’s not surprising.” She smiled fondly at him.

“Yeah, I suppose.” Rowan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I came here to find a gift for the exchange, but I’m thinking it was the wrong choice to make.” Lysandra nodded in understanding.

“Ah, yes. That thing.” She rolled her eyes. “Aedion insists we do it every year. But he forgets that you still don’t know that many people. I’m sure you’re struggling to find a gift?” Rowan nodded.

“Well, in my experience, chocolate usually goes over well with that crowd.”

Rowan smiled gratefully as he handed her the bags he collected. Lysandra gave him a warm smile in return and waved, walking away from him towards the opposite side of the square. Turning back towards the confectionery, his smile fell when he realized that his girl had once again vanished. And with the size of the crowd pressing in around him, he knew that it was next to impossible to try and find her.

Cursing under his breath, he leaned against the building and ran his hands through his hair. Three times. He had seen her three times now, and three times she disappeared without him knowing so much as her name.

It wasn’t like him to be so caught up in a woman. He could hardly remember the last time that someone captured his attention so thoroughly with so little effort. But from the moment he saw her on the ice, she had occupied his thoughts, twirling around his brain the way she danced around those skaters just a few days ago. It seemed stupid, and a bit silly, to be so hung up on someone he had never met. But for some reason, he couldn’t help himself.

Sighing, he pushed off the wall and walked to the store where she had so innocently pressed herself against the glass. Stopping just outside, he looked at the window display. He saw several platters of truffles artfully arranged in little pyramids, a sign hanging off to the side, signifying that chocolate hazelnut was the unique Christmas flavor.

Heeding Lysandra’s recommendations, he stepped inside the shop. At least he would have a good gift for tomorrow, even if the person who would enjoy these the most wouldn’t be the one receiving them.

—

Rowan Whitethorn hated Christmas parties.

He had been standing in a corner for the past thirty minutes, glowering at all the joyful guests. Aedion and Lysandra stopped by briefly to say hello but had been whisked away almost immediately to greet others as they walked through the door. There were at least sixty other people crammed into their townhouse, but Rowan didn’t know any of them, save the few from the firm that decided to come. Even still, he had no desire to interact with them any more than necessary.

Aedion and Lysandra had gone all out, it seemed. The townhouse was decked from top to bottom in tinsel and lights. A large table off the main entrance was filled with all kinds of food, including the items Rowan had procured for them just a few days ago. They had established an open bar in the far corner, with everything from beer to hard liquor and various mixers to keep even the most discerning of palates happy. Rowan could hear a piano being played a room over, with requests for Christmas songs shouted over the crowd to laughter and delight.

The room was stifling in his sweater - hunter green in honor of the holiday - and the alcohol he had consumed warmed him significantly. But Rowan was convinced that Aedion was breaking some kind of fire code with the number of people in his house, and no matter where he moved, he felt like they were pressing in on him from all sides. Pushing through the crowd, he walked towards the back door that led to the patio, hoping the crisp air would cool him down enough to where he didn’t feel like he was going to combust into flames.

He exited the main room and found himself in a dining room of sorts. The crowd was not nearly as bad in there, but they all seemed to be congregating around one half of the room. Curious, Rowan looked over and saw the small upright piano propped up in the corner. Deft fingers flew over the keys in a rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as drunken voices yelled out each verse with increasing intensity. Rowan was just about to pass through the room when the crowd parted, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

His mystery girl was sitting at the piano.

He spent most of the past day completely in his head about his situation, lamenting missed connections and stupid interruptions before finally accepting that he would never see her again. He knew it was stupid, _so_ stupid, to be this strung out on a girl he never met, but he couldn’t help it.

And now here she was right in front of him. 

Rowan was rooted in his spot as he watched her play. She obviously had training, adding improvisations here and there, artful trills that took the basic Christmas song to another level. The people around her joyously sang along with her accompaniment, and she offered them a beautiful smile in return. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Aedion passed by right in front of him, and without tearing his eyes away from her, lest she disappear again, he stuck out his hand to stop his friend. Aedion looked at him confused until he managed to trail Rowan’s line of sight to the golden girl at the piano.

“Oh, I see you found Aelin.”

Rowan’s head snapped to look at his friend. “Aelin? As in your cousin?”

“Yeah, man. I told you she’d be here. It turns out the reason she got into town early was because of some meeting she had with the Orynth Symphony. They want her to be one of their Artists in Residence, so she can put on concerts and teach master classes for them. But really, Lys and I are just glad she’s home.”

Rowan could barely hear the words over the loud buzzing in his ears. Every single nerve in his body narrowed in on the girl sitting just a few feet away. He had spent the better part of the day wallowing in the fact that he would never see her again, and now, he was having a difficult time wrapping his brain around the fact that she was Aedion’s _cousin._

Everything that transpired over the last few days starting clicking together in his mind. She was at the skating rink when Aedion was supposed to meet him there, and then again at the park the next day. When he bumped into Lysandra at the square the night before, he had just seen her pressed up again the glass of the sweet shop just half a block down the road.

He had chalked everything up to coincidence, but now it seemed as if perhaps there was something a bit more at work than he realized. Rowan turned towards Aedion with wide, confused eyes, and he only smirked knowingly and gave him a shrug in return.

Aelin finished the song with a final flourish, and her audience broke out into applause. He had never been this close to her before, and he must have looked ridiculous standing there with his mouth hanging half-open. Her eyes darted over the crowd before locking with his. Even from where he stood, he could see the bright turquoise of her eyes ringed in molten gold. He watched as they widen slightly before she smiled, beautiful and unrestrained. And then she did something completely unexpected.

She winked at him.

Before Rowan had a chance to comprehend what happened entirely, she turned back to the piano and accepted a request for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” from the stranger to her right. Aedion patted him on the shoulder and smirked when Rowan turned back to his friend.

“No use waiting around, man. She’s gonna be tied up for a while.”

—

The party started to wind down, but Rowan kept sneaking glances at Aelin as she moved from room to room. He may have been not so stealthily following her as she held court with the rest of the party-goers, hoping to catch her eye again and finally, _finally_ , talk to her. He knew that it made him an utter creep, but he was still having a hard time reconciling the fact that the mystery girl he had been hopelessly pining over for the past few days was just a few feet away from him and seemingly knew who he was.

Aedion had been right, though. Most party guests had tied her up, and Rowan found himself picking up snippets of their conversations. He learned that she played piano since she was four and had a Master’s degree in Musical Performance. She had been the solo pianist for the Adarlan Touring Symphony for the last several years, but playing for the Orynth Symphony Orchestra was a dream she had from the time she was a young girl.

As the last of the guests started to leave, Rowan noticed that Aelin excused herself and walked out to the patio in the back. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before following the same path she took towards the sliding glass door that separated them. This was it.

The door slid open silently, and Rowan stepped out into the night. He saw Aelin standing at the edge of the deck, her face illuminated by the ever-changing pattern of Christmas lights strung across the patio. She faced slightly away from him, but Rowan could see the slight smirk on her lips as he stepped closer to her.

“Took you long enough.”

Rowan stopped just a few feet away from her, confused.

“I didn’t think I’d have to wait so long to get your attention, but better late than never, I guess.” She shrugged noncommittally, but the smirk stayed on her face.

“I…what?”

Aelin turned to face him fully, smiling as if she knew a secret. “I put on my best moves at the skating rink. Do you know how hard it is to do a layback spin without practicing it first? I’m surprised that I didn’t embarrass myself and fall on my ass.”

She took a step towards him. Rowan hardly felt like he was breathing.

“And then, when that didn’t work, I figured Fleetfoot would do the trick. That dog melts everyone’s heart, and she was in especially rare form at the park, but even that didn’t sway you. Don’t you like dogs, Rowan?”

He barely registered that she knew his name as she stepped closer to him again.

“The market was completely by chance. I had no idea you would even be there. I had to think on my feet. Lysandra offered to get you to come with us, but she said you were trying to get in and get out quickly. So she dropped a few hints. Really, the only person who likes chocolate enough to enjoy it as a gift is me.”

She was standing close enough to him that he could feel the heat radiating off her body, her turquoise eyes glowing under the twinkle of the lights. She was a few inches shorter than him, and Rowan was appreciative of the fact that she had to tilt her head up to look at him in the face. She was smiling at him with that secret, knowing smirk, and Rowan felt his brain short circuit.

“Aelin,” he started. Her face morphed into a brilliant smile as if hearing him say her name for the first time made her just as happy as he felt saying it. “Believe me. You didn’t have to do all that. I just needed you to stay in one spot long enough for me to talk to you.”

Aelin looked at him, her smile sliding into a confused frown. “You mean to tell me that if I had just, you know, talked to you like a normal person, instead of inventing this extremely circuitous method to get your attention, then we would have probably ended up here anyway?”

Rowan huffed a laugh. “I mean, yeah. Probably.”

Aelin’s frown became more pronounced, and she added quietly. “I didn’t want to seem weird.”

Rowan cocked his eyebrow and chuckled. “Weird how? Because I’ve spent the last three days driving myself crazy over figuring out who you were so that I could see you again. It definitely was weird, to be honest.”

Aelin laughed. “Lys showed me your picture after she met you last month and told me all about meeting you. I knew I was coming home soon and that the move was likely going to be permanent, but I wanted us to meet a bit more organically than at my cousin’s Christmas party."

“Right. And what’s more organic than chasing each other around Orynth during Christmas?” Rowan said with a hint of sarcasm. But they were both smiling, so he took it as a good sign.

“Yes, yes. I may have been suffering from some delusions of grandeur.” Aelin rolled her eyes and waved him off. “But perhaps it’s not all for naught, if you’re still here.”

Rowan’s smile softened. “I’m still here.”

They stood there on the patio, just breathing each other in. The snow flurries started falling around them, enveloping them in a world of white. Rowan watched as snow caught in Aelin’s hair, on her face, in her eyelashes, and was struck with the same thought that he had earlier that week.

She was absolutely breathtaking.

Caught up in his perusal of the beautiful woman before him, Rowan barely heard the patio door slide open or the crunch of the steps on the fresh snow that landed on the deck. But when a loud cough sounded to his right, Rowan reluctantly dragged his gaze away from Aelin to land on her cousin.

“Glad to see you both finally met.” Aedion was smirking at them both.

Aelin rolled her eyes. “Is there anything we can help you with, dear cousin?”

Aedion shrugged. “Not really, but Lys wants to do presents now, and you know how she gets.”

He turned and walked back into the house, and stopping to slide the door closed, winking at both of them through the glass.

“Well, I suppose that we should get inside. Lys gets super serious about the Yankee Swap.”

Rowan looked at her, confused. “Lys does? She told me it was Aedion’s idea.”

Aelin laughed brightly. “Oh, absolutely not. That girl is a fiend for presents. Don’t let her fool you.”

Rowan felt a warm hand slide into his own, and Aelin was looking shyly at him. He linked his fingers with hers and squeezed softly, reassuringly, to let her know that what she was doing was okay. She beamed at him and started pulling him towards the door.

“Now come on. If I remember correctly, there’s a box of hazelnut truffles under that tree with my name on them.”

Rowan laughed and stepped into a house full of Christmas cheer, wondering if this would be his best Christmas yet.


End file.
